3 children, 16, 17 and 18
Dutch, English and Denglish
My husband and I speak English together. He also speaks English with the children. The children and I speak Dutch together. We have a New Zealand group of friends and when we are together we mainly speak English
My husband did not speak Dutch very well in the beginning. We also felt it was important for family in nz to be able to communicate with the children.
Sometimes someone wanted the children to speak English because they thought it was cute. But they were very adamant about that: they only wanted to speak English to people who did not speak Dutch.
Only if 1 of the 2 is fluent in the other language.
Keep speaking your own language consistently. One of our sons refused to speak English for a while. If my husband asked something, he answered in English. Now, 12 years later, he is the one who can express himself best in English.
In the end, we now speak a mixture of English and Dutch at home: Denglish. But we understand each other well!
My name is Nathalie. I am Dutch and married to Joe from New Zealand.